"SURVIVOR" OUTLASTS MY INTEREST

April 21, 2006

Ever since I started writing this column, I've always thrown my support behind CBS's smash hit "Survivor," refusing to lump it in with the rest of network TV's reality junk and championing it for its perfect mix of game show, endurance contest, and voyeuristic experiment.

I've hardly missed an episode through the first 11 seasons - some better, some worse -while turning my nose up at the rest of the reality genre. I even stuck with "Survivor" during last fall's Stephanie and Bobby Jon do-ever, which unwisely brought back the two lovable losers from the previous season for a second chance to outwit, outlast, and outplay. That edition firmly belonged in the folder labeled "some worse," but I figured the show would reinvent itself and rebound, as it always has after an off season.

Hasn't happened. In fact, the current season is even worse, and three weeks ago, I made a drastic decision - I broke up with "Survivor." It was a nice relationship while it lasted, but I finally realized I could be doing better things with my time on Thursdays at 8 p.m. The season started promising, with the newly introduced Exile Island (where one survivor would be sent alone every week) seemingly designed to add a new strategic layer to the show's screw-your-neighbor gamesmanship. Unfortunately, the island turned out to be a big bore. Surprise! There's nothing much to televise when a player is stranded all by their lonesome, with the exception of a hidden immunity idol that was found way too early in the season.

The contestants themselves have also been a total wash this time around. Series creator and executive producer Mark Burnett invented the art of casting smart for reality shows - characters with lots of personality and conflicting viewpoints - but "Survivor: Exile Island"'s cast offers not a single player to root for. They're all either just plain boring (Danielle, Terry) or wannabe Johnny Fairplays who come off as annoying rather than compellingly villainous (Shane, obviously).

The lack of compelling players paired with low levels of drama have just made it all seem so dull this year - the challenges, the tribal councils, Jeff trying to stir things up by asking his nib-nose questions. It got to the point where I'd have "Survivor" on, but I'd find myself reading or balancing my checkbook instead of actually watching.

A lot of people, including myself, thought that "Survivor" would quickly fade away after the TV-changing first season concluded. Turns out, the show had legs, cleverly reinventing itself year after year, while keeping the game's ingenious core design intact. But these last two dreadful seasons maybe prove the show does have an expiration date after all.

Me? I'm done with it. And though I have many fond memories of my time with "Survivor" - Sue's classic "rat vs. snake" speech, Rupert going all pirate and stealing the other tribe's shoes, Boston Rob putting his arm around his girl and mowing down the "all-stars" one at a time - Burnett's going to have to pull off some kind of minor miracle to win me back.